Folks who have read Loser of the Year for the #QueerRomanceClub - how much of the book is spent with Jillian being a mean bully? I am not really enjoying reading about people being mean to each other these days, but I don’t want to bail on the book too early if it shifts tone soon. I’m on chapter three. #amreading #bookstodon
#queerromanceclub
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Because, being nonbinary myself, I'm always curious about the way nonbinary characters are portrayed, so I've read "homegrown magic" from the #queerRomanceClub list for July in the last few days.
I liked it way better than "don't want you like a best friend". It's really cosy, though a bit simple in it's criticism of capitalism but then it's a romance novel and not a political textbook.
I loved the way the nonbinary character was written about, their nonbinarity was just another character trait, like their hair colour, nothing the whole story had to evolve around. For example they wear a binder, but it's only ever explicitly talked about when they are only in their underwear and then it's just another item in the description like a pair of socks.
Because, being nonbinary myself, I'm always curious about the way nonbinary characters are portrayed, so I've read "homegrown magic" from the #queerRomanceClub list for July in the last few days.
I liked it way better than "don't want you like a best friend". It's really cosy, though a bit simple in it's criticism of capitalism but then it's a romance novel and not a political textbook.
I loved the way the nonbinary character was written about, their nonbinarity was just another character trait, like their hair colour, nothing the whole story had to evolve around. For example they wear a binder, but it's only ever explicitly talked about when they are only in their underwear and then it's just another item in the description like a pair of socks.
Content warning #QueerRomanceClub June selection — Navigational Entanglements — minor spoilers to end
#QueerRomanceClub June selection— Navigational Entanglements
I do like a novella (I resent paying upper-end novel prices for novellas, but that’s a different story), and I especially like Aliette de Bodard’s Xuya universe. I thought I’d been quite patchy at reading them but looking at the titles, I realise I’ve read almost all of them over time.
This one is typical of the rest — deep and very effective Viet-influenced world-building without wasting too many words explaining it, a plot that involves juniors in a strict hierarchical structure having to in some way rebel against their elders, with a low-key f/f romance woven through it. Nice to have an almost entirely female cast too. Was not sure why a navigation clan needed assassins, though, but it was taken at face value, so I guess the politics are just robust (as we go on to learn…but then, why the shock from the juniors then…)
De Bodard often has a f/f dynamic which is older/powerful/mysterious woman and younger, wide-eyed girl, so it was nice to have a relatively equal flaws-compliment-each-other relationship, and I liked the way mutual trust played into the finale.
But the downside of a novella is that there’s not always the full depth devoted to the relationship, so it all happens a bit fast. Also, I didn’t always follow why the characters were getting annoyed at each other eg we’d be told Nhi was being unpleasant but the dialogue just didn’t *sound* that unpleasant (this is likely just me being accustomed to sassy banter).
Annoyingly, and no fault of the author’s, Sư phụ (master) displayed as S ph on my Kobo ereader, and feel like if the publisher is charging that much, they could have afforded having a minion check that.
Remember how I said I wanted a book with joy to ring in the new year?
The Princess, Her Dragon, and Their Prince
is my first finished book for 2025 and it's everything I wanted. Knitting/spinning/crochet magic, a story of politics and nations, queer romance... I don't want to spoil anything but it has the "happy endings via hard work and love" energy I want to bring into 2025. 💚
Remember how I said I wanted a book with joy to ring in the new year?
The Princess, Her Dragon, and Their Prince
is my first finished book for 2025 and it's everything I wanted. Knitting/spinning/crochet magic, a story of politics and nations, queer romance... I don't want to spoil anything but it has the "happy endings via hard work and love" energy I want to bring into 2025. 💚
enne📚 reviewed Slippery Creatures by KJ Charles
Slippery Creatures
3 stars
I read this book for #QueerRomanceClub. It's a post-war 1920's queer romance with a bit of a mystery element to it.
This was a fun read, but the relationship between Kim and Will was definitely a little uncomfortable in parts for me, and perhaps not quite my cuppa. I think I was not expecting something so hot and cold and hot and cold with such (understandable)! trust issues. Without the meta-knowledge that this is a trilogy with these two as leads, I as the reader would have trusted Kim even less than I did.
That said, I appreciated the complication of their messy relationship; I feel like the book sold it well both why and what worked (and didn't). Given that these books are from Will's perspective and Kim is the one who keeps secrets and lies, my hope for the future is that we as readers …
I read this book for #QueerRomanceClub. It's a post-war 1920's queer romance with a bit of a mystery element to it.
This was a fun read, but the relationship between Kim and Will was definitely a little uncomfortable in parts for me, and perhaps not quite my cuppa. I think I was not expecting something so hot and cold and hot and cold with such (understandable)! trust issues. Without the meta-knowledge that this is a trilogy with these two as leads, I as the reader would have trusted Kim even less than I did.
That said, I appreciated the complication of their messy relationship; I feel like the book sold it well both why and what worked (and didn't). Given that these books are from Will's perspective and Kim is the one who keeps secrets and lies, my hope for the future is that we as readers get to see more into Kim's professional and personal life and understand better the choices he makes.